Planning Board To Hear Car Dealership Request

Toronto Investments Ltd. wants to put an automobile sales and service plant on a three-quarter-acre parcel that was approved in 1980 for an office- warehouse development.

The proposal, to be aired before the Palm Beach County Planning Commission today, calls for two buildings with 2,000 square feet of sales office space, and a 3,000-square-foot service building.

The property is on Military Trail west of Lake Worth, between Cambridge and Springfield streets.

Noise from the site could be a problem, county planning and zoning staffers said in a report to the commission.

``Noise-abatement measures should be taken to mitigate any noise impact from the proposed use,`` the report said.

``Single-family residences to the west of the site should be protected through use of proper screening and buffering measures,`` the report said.

No letters of objection have been received by the zoning department from the project`s neighbors, but one zoning official predicted that some of the people living in homes beside the proposed car dealership probably would be opposed.

The site is vacant. A florist shop lies due north of it. Several single- family homes lie just west. To the south across Springfield Street is vacant land. To the east across Military Trail is a patio-furniture store and an auto-glass business.

The proposed site plan must be modified to provide landscaping to satisfy the county`s new landscaping code, zoning officials said.

A road impact fee of $11,000 would be required if approval is granted. The Planning Commission makes recommendations to the County Commission, which will sit this month as the Zoning Board. The Zoning Board has final say on all zoning change requests.

In other action today, the Fountains of Palm Beach is requesting a change to lower the overall density of its 302.6-acre project from 1,191 units to 932 units. The change would move some units from one section of the planned unit development to three other sections.

The change would reduce the density of the project from 3.94 units per acre to 3.08 units per acre.

The site lies on the northwest corner of Jog Road and Lantana West Road.

The tract in question lies immediately to the south of the Fountains high- density, multi-family development.